Review by WhiteX
Views: 101171
Date: 2007-02-06
Comments: 4
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Hotel Dusk - Room 215

HD215 is an adventure game with a strong "film noir" story with a very mature tone,
made by the same studio that gave us "Trace memory",
it is one of the best DS sleeper hits to date.

Presentation/graphics 8

The art style of the game´s presentation is to be noted, the characters appear
to be hand drawn, like the 80´s "Take on Me" A-Ha´s video clip, it uses a 3D
setting for the walking around, it is not the best 3D around but get´s the job done
by displaying the shabby but chic nature of Hotel Dusk.

Music/sound effects 8

The Music is very mood setting with some very nice Jazz tunes to help giving
the "disgraced cop" story it´s trustworthiness, you can always enjoy HD songs
and they never felt out of place to me, the sound effects are also nice and never
got in the way of the game´s immersion and that´s always a plus.

Gameplay 9

You are Kyle Hyde, a former cop from NYPD that took on the traveling salesman business as an excuse too find an old partner, this job has a little catch as the owner of the company has a little sidejob on finding items that got "misplaced", Hyde´s latest job took him to Hotel Dusk, where he got Room 215, a room said to grant wishes.

Inside HD you will try to uncover your mystery and all the guests mysteries as well, all guests and crew have very distinctive personalities and ways to speak their minds as they are all seasoned ppl, even the younguest, and that make for a very mature storytelling with very lifelike problems.

The main beef with HD215 for me is that, although it is a very good story, you only seem to advance the story at the pace the game dictates you to do, you will sometimes already have some of the plot figured out but the game will hold you back because you need to advance it in a very specific way making the game feel
more like a new style of E-Book than a game more so that you have to hold the DS sideways, like a book.

There are puzzles and minigames, some very easy and bland, some with the touch of a genius, they make up to some unwinding for the storyline for the focus is heavy on the interacting with the other people, where the wrong question mean just about game over.


DS factor 9

Full stylus control, 3D engine and some very innovative DS only puzzle mechanics, very nice package.

Learning curve 5

You will learn to play in minutes, however, you may rip out the hair out from your head trying to discover what the hell the game wants you to do to advance into it when you already know what Kyle will find out.

Lasting appeal/game modes 3

You can play it again after you finish to see some very small changes in the game, but once you crack this one out, the surprise is out, it is like watching "The sixth sense" all over again, it is a good movie but the "Bang!" has left the building.

Final considerations

HD215 is a very good story, adult and mature, all we need for the DS to shake off the Kiddy image the competition is trying so hard to paint, it is a short game and you will ditch it on a drawer once you´re done with it, rent it is my advice.

[video=youtube;0I6FWRNvSXU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I6FWRNvSXU[/video]
[video=youtube;BHhSh4vcI7k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHhSh4vcI7k&NR[/video]

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